What's the Point

I'd be keen to hear from philosophers who actually think about this stuff for a living, but, at a gut level, it seems to me that privacy is not equally good across all information sharing situations.

Or maybe a better way to say it: a lack of privacy is not equally bad across all information sharing situations.

> It’s a losing battle…

In the fullest generality, this is probably true. But that doesn't mean there are not particular domains, particular communities, particular situations, in which insisting upon privacy protections is not the right thing to do.

Now, I can already hear folks chiming in about network effects: how am I going to talk privately with community X if community X is already using Goobook? And I agree: this is why the trend is a losing battle.

In kevq's scenario, _maybe_ in the case of a table tennis league private communications are not terribly important (not my call). Maybe it _is_ a little more important that the local community group uses something private, but still not gravely important - but perhaps worth bringing up to that community. Maybe enough people will agree with you, maybe not. But if you stick with the community, even under the surveillance of facebook, then maybe by next year even more people will agree with you. And maybe the year after that people will feel right about switching.

These processes of engagement are important, but changing people's minds, and helping folks to see the value of privacy, for the individual as well as for society at large, is a long slow process. But the more credit you have in a group, the more people will take your arguments and concerns seriously. So, if kevq reads these comments, just stick with it and don't expect folks to change overnight. (I'm sure you don't)

Same goes for the rest of you who feel frustrated. Just remember to pick your priorities (some privacy scenarios are more important than others), and try not to think of it as a fight with those around you. It is a fight with FB, Google, etc, not with your friends and neighbors.

  I recently joined a local table tennis team and they manage 
  the entire team via WhatsApp, so I had to start using 
  WhatsApp again if I wanted to be involved.

I can't think of an organization I would join if they respected me so little as to insist I use a Mark Zuckerberg product. I don't know about elsewhere, but in my country, people who haven't yet quit Facebook tend still to be aware that they should.

Fuck the internet in its' current state indeed.